The Sugar Hollow Plant List

Echinacea (also known as coneflower) attracts butterflies and in late fall, gold finches.

Taking stock in the garden at season's end! I got 50 more daffodil bulbs planted last weekend and could probably plant 50 bulbs every season for the next 20 years and still not make a dent in the landscape. {I would love our land to be a sea of yellow every late February.}

What is on your wish list? What do you recommend?

HONEYBEE, BIRD AND BUTTERFLY ATTRACTORS

Catnip, white and lavender varieties
Butterfly Bush
Liatris
Glossy Abelia
Sunflowers
Echinacea
Bee Balm
Zinnias
Caryopteris ‘Blue Beard’
Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’
Salvia ‘May Night’
Russian Sage
Black-Eyed Susans
Shasta Daisies
Goldenrod (wild)
Yarrow (wild)
Thistle (wild)
Violets (wild)
Ironweed (wild)

BENEFICIAL INSECT ATTRACTORS

Love-in-a-Mist (self-seeding patch)
Daffodils, common and several other fragrant varieties
Iris, common and a variety that smells like grape Pez

NATIVES

Fringe Tree
Eastern Red Bud
Virginia Sweet Spire
Virginia Bluebells
May Apples
Wild Phlox
Trillium

HERBS

Plantain
Lavender (also good for honeybees)
Lemon Balm (also good for honeybees)
Sage
Rosemary (also good for honeybees)
German Chamomile
Thyme
Oregano (also good for honeybees)
Dill
Garlic
Mint, Common
Mint, Apple

ORNAMENTALS

Lilac, Common
Hydrangea ‘Endless Wonder’
A variety of small, ephemeral bulbs
Hollies, ‘China Boy’ and ‘China Girl’ varieties
Liriope
Dayliles, native, 'Pandora’s Box', 'Wineberry Candy', 'Jolyene' and several other varieities
Grape Hyacinths
Sugar Maple
Willow Oak
Eastern Red Cedars
Japanese Maples (3)
Azalea
Bridal Wreath
Rose, Climbing Antique 'Jeanne LaJoie'
Roses, Knock Outs
Coreopsis, Rose
Plumbago
Hollyhock, Common (deer fodder right now, but I hold out hope)
Veronica Speedwell
Tulips, Rembrandt and basic red variety

PERENNIAL FOOD PRODUCERS

Fig 'Chicago Hardy'
Juneberry (seriously chomped down by deer, but still living)
Black raspberry
Blackberries
Strawberries (in containers, for now)
Wild persimmons
Asparagus 'Mary Washington'
Elderberry
Rhubarb

REMAINING WISH LIST and FINAL THOUGHTS

A weeping mulberry shrub.
'Korean Spice' viburnums for along the front path.
A peony (or two).
More irises.
More Black-Eyed Susans along the ridge above the daylilies.
More compost under the walnut to help plants thrive?
More varieties of daylily for under the walnut.
A better okra crop.
Plant cucumbers for pickling.
Grow squash for the *blossoms,* too.
Find a spot for the elderberry that will let it thrive.
More native phlox.
Plant calendula – for botanical beauty potions.
Don’t plant green beans. (I just don’t love them enough to can and freeze.)

Willa's Vintage Virginia Apple Tree

Our very dear friends, Dave and Leora, surprised us with the sweetest of gifts last weekend. An apple tree for Willa. For her first birthday.

It is an Ashmead's Kernel - with origins going back to the 1700's in England. It is one of Dave's favorites. From Vintage Virginia Apples.

On Wednesday, Dave stopped by and planted our tree. Near the vegetables raised beds. For our growing edible spot in Sugar Hollow.

What made this gift so awesome was having our friends show us something new. Something that would have normally intimidated me. But now, there it is. An apple tree. Willa's Apple Tree. On our land. The best!

Much Ado in the Garden - Autumn 2008

Without the urgency of spring's pace, I have always loved the mellower tone of autumn in the garden. So much of my to-do list can be done gradually - over the next two months. And that suits me just fine these days.

1. Clean out the container garden. Compost plants-past-their-prime.
2. Move a compost container to the back porch - so running out in the winter to a far away compost bin is eliminated. As is the stink fest that results from neglected compost piling up in the kitchen.
3. Shred leaves for the compost bin. For leaf mold.
4. For the *new* front yard - plant that saucer magnolia (for Willa!) and the hedge line of glossy abelia.
5. Put plastic mulch down over raised beds - to prep them for spring planting.
6. Harvest and dry rosemary, sage and oregano from the herb garden.
7. Clean out gardening supplies and post give-aways to local friends.
8. Start forced hyacinth bulbs.
9. Plant bulbs in front beds and more naturalizing daffodils along the wood's edge.
10. Revisit my winter reading: The Herb Quarterly, plant and seed catalogs galore, Second Nature, Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Healing for Women.

*Bonus wish list item* - A cold frame. After asking me what I wanted for my birthday, I told Corey that I would really love a cold frame - so we could have greens all-winter-long. He paused, looked up and said, "How 'bout cash?" He is stretched thin these days. The cold frame can happen. Or not. There's always next year.

And, what is your favorite fall garden chore?

Etsy Love :: Looking Up :: Trees

Willa is always up for a walk or a hike or a swing in the hammock. Facing out in her little baby carrier, of course. Enamored of the sunshine through the trees as we walk and talk and sing. I'll feel her head pushing against my chest, as she looks up and up and up - at the light, at the branches, at the dancing leaves.

Which, in turn, has me looking up and up and up. Huh. Just now remembering how much I loved doing that during my lolling about in the summer months of my youth. Remembering that during the crazier years of my life - working in Manhattan with topsy-turvy late hours and too much of this and too much of that - I found a profound settling in my soul during weekend trips to the country. And finding my way back. Crawling my way back to the perfect spot under a tree.

With trees on the brain, I have been putting aside money from some of my freelance work to buy several native varieties for our land for a fall planting. I have also been looking at these prints for Willa's room. Belleandboo's images are exquisite in the nostalgia they induce. Pirates. Argggghhhh!

Neck 'n Neck

Your voices have been heard and it looks like a Saucer Magnolia for little Miss Willa. The Japanese Flowering Apricot came in a very close second. I truly love that lots of you voted - thanks so much.

And, as I am prone to overreaching when it comes to my garden plans, I am already thinking of planting both. I have a glimmer of hope that this will happen soon, as Corey has started to look at the land around our house with interest. To me, that means the living things that have struggled through house construction blitzes may have a fighting chance. And introducing new ones won't be a lost cause.

Talk is cheap! I am hoping to walk the tree planting walk very soon.

Willa's Tree. Thoughts? Vote!

Okay . . . after some midnight feeding tree-book readings, I have narrowed it down a bit. Trees that could be flowering around Willa's birthday . . . late winter/early spring bloomers. In shades of pink and white. Because, how could they not be pink or white? Submit your vote - on the right!

Callaway crabapple (Malus 'Callaway')
Saucer magnolia (Magnolia X Soulangiana - photo above)
Okame Cherry (Prunus incisa x campanulata 'Okame')
Japanese Flowering Apricot (Prunus Mume)

Allo! I'm Back and I'm a Mama.

Our little rosebud was born last Friday (March 7th) at 9:56 p.m. Willa May weighed 8 lbs. and 2.5 ounces; and was 21" long. Spring will be especially magical for the rest of our lives . . . we have already spent some time walking around Sugar Hollow - peeking at sprouting bulbs, listening to the spring peepers, taking in the warmer days and the sun. In between naps and hearty meals.

I keep thinking about a tree that I can plant this spring - in honor of our little girl. In one of my horticulture classes, our teacher told the story of a star magnolia that clients of his planted for their new daughter. It would bloom around the time of her birthday, every year. They then had a 21st birthday celebration for her under the magnolia. *Sigh*. So clever.

I'll have to dig out my copy of Michael Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants and start scheming and dreaming.

Books: The Southern Gardener's Book of Lists

Both newbie and seasoned gardeners of the south alike will glean valuable information from this book.

The subtitle promises the best plants for any gardener's "needs, wants and whims." Whims? How can you not love a gardening book that understands that *most* green thumbs live and breathe on just that. Whims.

My favorite sections?

Trees To Try in Containers *or* Small Trees for Small Lots, Patios and Under Utility Lines
Trees That Will Outlive Your Great-Great Grandchildren
Substitutes for Bradford Pear
Perennials That Will Bloom Six Weeks or Longer
Some Perennials for Heavy Clay Soil
Perennials for Cracks and Crevices (i.e. stone walls or pathways)
Annuals for Beginners
Super Easy Flowers from a Packet Of Seeds
Old-Fashioned Shrubs
Native Azaleas in Order of Bloom
Roses Most Often Found in Old Southern Gardens

Also remember that this is particularly great time of year to plant trees and shrubs. Through the end of November. Amazing, since most nurseries are having very tempting sales right now, as well.

Shhhh. This tip can remain between the lot of us.

A Blank Slate - The Sugar Hollow Homestead

The big machines and work boots are through with their tromping and their bravado. The piles of seedling-smashing construction materials have disappeared - as each piece was gradually incorporated into the building of our home. And the drone of the mitre saws, compressors and sawzalls have fallen silent.

Now, it's my turn. A blank slate. A chance to take a crack at a small garden in this much-abused (and ignored) space. And an opportunity to inject a little femininity and estrogen into the landscape.

Favorite front-yard garden spaces have always been those with designs based in shrubs and small trees - to compliment the larger, more established trees and a smattering of perennials and bulbs.

My wish list is comprised of mostly native plants - trees, shrubs and woody vines that will offer color and interest throughout all of the seasons. And a few old-fashioned favorites because, well, gardens (for me) are also about nostalgia. Click on each highlighted plant for photos and details.

Shrubs and Trees
Fringe Tree (incredible fragrance in the spring)

Sweet Pepperbush (incredible fragrance in the summer)

Witchhazel (winter interest)

Sweetbay Magnolia

Piedmont Azalea (a much more delicate version of the typical azaleas)

Pinxterbloom Azalea (honeysuckle fragrance and an azalea in one!)
Hydrangeas
Lilacs

Roses (but not the fussy varieties)
Quince
Glossy Abelia

Peonies

Vines

Trumpet Honeysuckle

Passionflower
Carolina Jessamine

If we get three of these plants in the ground this fall, I'll be thrilled. Okay, two. One?! Meh. I know better - it may not happen until next spring. Or the following fall.

But I'll always have the delicious anticipation associated with blank slates. New beginnings. And big plans.

Tree Topping: The Underbelly of the Tree Service Society

I counted close to 50 of these trees. 50. Five. Zero. On one piece of property.

Standing tall as the stark, skeletal remains of what were once healthy trees.

My heart is in my throat.

I made a vow to myself that this blog would be mostly light-hearted fun. Limited soap-box time (which really isn't my thing anyway). So I'll keep this brief.

Tree topping is super harmful to trees on several levels. Aside from looking ghastly and creepy, it creates branches that break easily and are susceptible to rot and disease. It actually starves the tree. No leaves = decreased access to food and the whole process of photosynthesis.

So - in short - it can simply lead to the slow death of a tree. In this case, 50 of them. Blows. My. Mind.

Visit Plant Amnesty.org to learn more - they also offer "Stop Topping Trees" t-shirts and bumperstickers. Spread the word, stop the butchering!